British Whig (Kingston, ON), Oct. 18, 1883

p.2 Gale On Lake Michigan - Lake Michigan swept by violent south east gale; at Sheboygan the schooner Petrel ran against a pier and went to pieces. She was owned in Milwaukee.

p.3

CONTRACT SECURED.

Capt. Donnelly has left for Montreal with the steamer Hastings and tug Folger, for the purpose of bringing up the river the C.P.R. steamship Athabasca, cut amidships at Montreal and intended for the Lake Superior service. The dimensions of the vessel are such that she had to be cut in this way before she could pass through the St. Lawrence canals. She is 270 feet long over all, 38 feet beam and 23 feet depth of hold. She has a tonnage of 2,000 tons, and accommodation for 180 first class passengers and 1,200 steerage passengers. There are two other steamships, the Algoma and Alberta, just arrived in Canada. They will also be cut across before being towed to the West. They are all fitted with heavy engines of 1,700 horse power. The service will connect the two ends of the line from Algoma to Port Arthur, a distance of 364 miles across Lake Superior, the passage occupying about 24 hours. The steamers will commence running next Spring, when a daily service will be given.

Other Boats Cut Amidships.

This is the second case in which an iron vessel, too long to pass through the Beauharnois and Cornwall canals, has been cut in half at Montreal. Some years ago several sidewheel gunboats had to undergo an operation before passing through the locks, being too wide, and the paddle boxes and wheels were removed. A similar operation was performed on the fast passenger steamer Rothesay when she passed up, but the first case in which the hull of a vessel was cut in order to pass her through the canal was that of the iron S.S. Campana, two years ago. The time taken in the operation on that occasion was very long, wooden bulkheads having to be built on the face of each section at the cut, while pontoons had to be constructed to bolster the bow and stern, to prevent the sections going down by the head and stern. The vessel being constructed in the ordinary way, the cut was a very ugly one and gave great trouble, the ribands of iron composing the hull being dovetailed into one another. With the Athabasca the

Operation Was Much Easier,

the vessel having been constructed with the knowledge of the required operation. In consequence the sheets of iron were made to fit and to end at the place where she was cut, and iron bulkheads five feet apart erected on each side of the connection. Accordingly, all that was necessary was to knock off the heads of the rivets at the joint and float the two pieces to their destination. The necessity of pontoons will be averted by judicious ballasting. Mr. Mansell, one of the builders, superintended the operation of cutting. The steamers when running will be the first steel boats ever used on the lakes, besides being by far the largest passenger steamers afloat on those waters.

Here & There - The prop. St. Magnus is en route to Algoma Mills, her cargo consisting of a large quantity of blasting powder.

The prop. Alma Munro blew her cylinder top off a few days ago and had to be towed to Port Stanley for repairs.